Wisley Leandre

Ms. Jimisha Relerford

English 104
10 September 2015
When I thought of literacy, I always thought of writing and reading. Literacy to
me was only being able to read and write. I never thought of it as something that you
could become proficient in and enhance. Over the little time that Ive been in this class
Ive learned that theres more to literacy than reading and writing. Its more than just
writing a 5-page essay or reading a story for an assignment. Literacy is a form of
communication and a way to express yourself.
As a writer I never enjoyed academic writing. I never enjoyed those 5-10 page
essays about topics that I could care less about. Sure I managed to get a score of 4 or 5 on
those standardized tests that students had to take back in my home state of Florida, but
what I really enjoyed writing about was my thoughts, how I felt about social issues, as
well as my own personal issues. I always viewed myself as a good writer. I realized I was
really good at writing when I wrote a 5 page APA paper in one night and got an A on it.
Thats when I knew that writing well was something that came natural to me.
Writing papers was never something that I found to be difficult. It was pretty
easy. I knew how to organize information and provide good context. I also knew how to
start off strong and finish strong. In spite of having these strong points, I still had my
weaknesses and readings and writings I wasnt proficient in. I would tend to get writers
block when constructing essays, something most writers get. I also would have a hard
time with sentence structure. Along with my weaknesses in writing, I had weakness and

trouble with certain types of readings, like poetry. Poetry was like my worst enemy. I
despised poetry and I hated the days in class when I had to read poetry in class. I never
could understand the hidden messages behind the poetry or what was the point that the
writer was trying to make. I always wondered why poets couldnt be straightforward
while making the last word in each stanza rhyme. I also wasnt really proficient at writing
poetry. So in conclusion, I sucked at poetry, but any other writing and reading came
naturally.
At a young age I tended to enjoy learning new words and my grammar classes. I
valued the thought of being intelligent and having an extensive vocabulary, but thats not
the point. The point is that because of this enjoyment of learning new words and
grammar, It helped me become the writer I am today, not a great writer, but a good
writer. I helped me become a stronger writer and it helped me build these strengths that I
mentioned earlier of being able to organize information, provide good context, and start
off strong and finish strong. Outside of class, I would brush up on writing techniques and
ways of making my writings stronger.
Even with the resources Ive used so far to strengthen my skills as a writer, I felt
there was more that I could do to improve my writing skills. Besides the fact that I dont
enjoy reading, I always imagined and knew that reading more would expand my way of
thinking and that would contribute to my writing and the way I write. Many authors tie
their writings to their experiences, the way they perceive things, as well as their way of
thinking. Those are usually the things that inspire them and where their voice as a writer
came from. I always believed that I could use what I learned from their writings as a

template for my writings. What I learned from their experiences, the way they perceive
things, and their way of thinking would help me to expand my mind and way of thinking.
Too bad I dont enjoy reading.
But back to my point on literacy: Literacy is a form of communication and
expressing yourself. In Mahiri and Sablos Writing for their Lives, the students,
Keisha and Troy, that were discussed would use writing as a way of expressing
themselves and expressing the problems in their community, as well as their own
personal problems. These writings would also be their way of communicating to the
community and speaking out on the problems going on in the community, not only their
community, but society as a whole. Literacy has played a big part in African American as
well. Literacy has illustrated the struggle of African American culture. Many African
American authors have used literacy to give a more in depth and personal view of the
African American struggle. They used literacy to communicate with the world the
struggle of the African American culture and also the beauty of it, as well express their
feelings and thoughts on the struggle and beauty. In Gilyards Writing, Literacy, and
Flight, Gilyard believes that the key way to get to equality, or a Transcultural
Democracy as hed call it, is by enhancing our literary ability and using those abilities to
reach the goal of equality.
Ive learned through these couple weeks that enhancing your literary abilities,
finding yourself as a writer, and becoming a better writer will help me to achieve this
goal that Gilyard presented. I mentioned that I was a good writer, but I need to become a
better writer, a great writer. I want to become one of those writers whose writings are in
9th graders literature books. I want to be the kind of writer that will help to achieve this

transcultural democracy that Gilyard speaks of. To become a great writer, I will have to
give up my dislike for writing and find readings that will help me to think differently and
expand my mind as well. I need to read scholarly writings and use those as templates for
my writings. I need to also avoid writings that arent going to make me think more and
avoid sophomoric writings. When Ive reached my highest level of literacy, Ill be able to
communicate to society the issues and problems and Ill be able to think of solutions to
these problems as well.
Literacy is a way of communicating and expressing yourself. Its used to
communicate to society and your community. Literacy is used to express your thoughts
and views of the issues that youre trying to communicate to people. When you read a
scholarly writing, youre strengthening your way of thinking, and when you strengthen
your way of thinking you improve on how you reflect on things and how you perceive
things. Strengthening your ability of reading, thinking, and writing helps you strengthen
your way of communicating and ways of expressing yourself, which is improving your in
Literacy. Literacy plays a role in our lives, from reading a newspaper to listening to a
Podcast. Both of these helps to communicate to people issues going on around the world
as well as the community. The world connects through this form of communication and
expression.